The Knesset Economics Committee, headed by MK Eitan Cabel, on Tuesday, approved the Transportation Ministry’s request to amend the Traffic Regulations and cancel the current regulation compelling drivers to carry a driver’s license. The new regulation should go into effect in about a month and for the first year, it will apply only to drivers in vehicles weighing less than 3,500 kg.

Drivers in vehicles weighing more than 3,500 kg will be required to continue to carry the driver’s license for one additional year, and one year after the regulations take effect, it will also apply to them, so that they will also be exempt from the obligation to carry a driver’s license.

The representative of the Ministry of Transport, Attorney Tamar Friedman, explained that today the regulations stipulate that drivers must carry with them a driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance certificate. Today, a driver’s license is issued for 10 years, and the intention is to switch to a license with an even longer validity until the age of 70, in which medical examinations are required, as the trend is to move to updated databases.

According to her, the Ministry of Transport’s databases will permit police access with full information about the driver, eliminating the need for a license. Therefore, attorney Friedmann explained, the Transportation Ministry wants to amend the regulation so that one is not compelled to carry a license. One may however carry it, or a passport or official identity card to permit authorities to establish a driver’s identity. The new law will not eliminate the need to carry other documents such as a vehicle’s registration.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)